Those who keep minority breeds can be divided broadly into those who keep them because they are rare - a necessary adjunct to the work of the RBST! -and those who keep them despite their being rare. The later group can be further subdivided. Firstly those who seek a commercial role for the breed. This will include many who have inherited their loyalty to the breed from their forebears. Secondly there are those who see a commercial role for the breed. They will likewise include many hereditary loyalists but also others who have chosen the breed because it has something to offer them.

  The more breeders there are who fall into the final category, the healthier it is for the breed. It was as one of these that we picked out the Longhorn in 1977. At the time we were running 150 commercial suckler cows, mainly autumn calving to the Charolais bull. The majority were Hereford x Friesian, some were Hereford x Shorthorns, from Ireland. We were experiencing some problems with the Hereford x Friesians resulting in an unacceptable culling rate. August / September calving cows tended to run into mastitis problems after weaning in July. They often produced too much milk for a new dropped calf - again resulting in mastitis. Also their prolific milk flow, in conjunction with November - January conception, necessitated a high level of winter feeding. Otherwise there would be a drift in calving dates, or worse still an unacceptable number of barreners. To minimise fly and mastitis problems, we left autumn born calves on their mothers until the first calves of the following crop were due. But while the earliest calving cows were virtually problem free, the longer the interval between weaning and calving the greater was the incidence of udder trouble and calving difficulties. These were partly due to excessive growth on the part of the foetus, but considerable blame could also be laid at the door of the pelvic structure inherited from the Friesian. They have a small pelvic area in relation to body size, and the pin bones are high, giving rise to a 'funnel pelvis'.

  Having become disillusioned with the Hereford x Friesian, and the Hereford x Shorthorn being almost unobtainable -all those coming out of Ireland being Hereford x Hereford Shorthorn (a Hereford double-cross!) we decided to breed our own replacements. We wanted a medium sized, roomy cow that wouldn't milk off its back too much in winter, but would pump out the milk in summer, and not run to fat. It also had to be relatively hardy, easily fed, docile and most important, able to calve to the Charolais [our terminal sire at the time] - if possible even as a heifer.

The commercial role

After much deliberation we came to the conclusion that the Longhorn x Welsh Black best fitted our specification. At the time we felt that to have put in continental blood would have given us a big, hungry, inefficient cow. Traditional indigenous beef blood would be fine in winter, but we would get fat instead of milk in the summer. Dairy blood would take us back whence we had just come. On looking at the Longhorn, we found it gave us exceptional length and had the largest pelvic area to body weight ratio of any breed.

  During the 1980’s, whilst we were developing our chosen cross bred suckler, the profitability of commercial suckled calf production declined. The main commercial herd had now gone. We then specialised in producing for sale, two and a half year old Longhorn x Welsh Black heifers with Charolais calves at foot. A herd of 36 were Welsh Black cows were kept to supply us with 20 heifers per year.

The Pedigree Side

  In 1977 when we purchased our first Longhorn bull, Winthill John, to use on Welsh Black heifers we also bought 4 Longhorn heifers from Aubrey Loze's Westward herd - just out of interest or curiosity I suppose. In that year, a mere 64 Longhorn Females were registered by the Longhorn Cattle Society, indicating a total number of breeding females in the region of 150. At that time there were 57 full members; there are now, 29 years later, nearly 400 active breeding members registering nearly 1000 heifers per year.

  By 1983, the year that Libby Henson became Secretary, we were running 40 breeding females - approximately 10% of the breed - having bought widely but selectively over the previous five years. These purchases included a new stock bull, Rousham Goliath, at the Royal Show in 1982. He was to have an enormous impact on the herd. We had already won the Royal Show Female Championship in 1981 (the year Ben Coutts awarded the Burke Trophy to the Longhorns) and again in 1982 with Eyebrook Rachel - she was last in the cow class of 1980 when she was described as the wrong type and too old fashioned! Her daughter Fishwick Daydream, an embryo transplant daughter by Bemborough Garrick was Reserve Female Champion as an in calf heifer in 1983. The calf she was carrying was Fantasy, dam of Fishwick Kinsman, who has been responsible for much of the improvement in beefing qualities in the breed. When Daydream returned to the Royal in 1984, with Fantasy at foot, the prominent Charolais breeder, who had just won the Charolais Championship with Lakeland Sagesse, spotted the outstanding heifer calf as he emerged from the Charolais A.G.M. and declared to all who cared to listen, "If you can breed heifers like that you're in the right breed"

. Fantasy was Goliath's first calf and went on to win the Royal Show Cow Class in 1987 and 1988 and the Great Yorkshire Show Cow Class for Five consecutive years from 1987- 1991, - 'the opposition were sick of the sight of her'. 1984 was also the year we had our first 'double' at the “Royal” with Goliath as Male Champion and Grendon Dulci as Female and Supreme Champion at 9 years old. She was a beautiful, lovely natured cow that we had purchased at the Grendon dispersal sale in 1978 against intense competition from Michael Rosenberg, who afterwards congratulated us on our acquisition. How right he was! In 1984 she had at foot Fishwick Gambol by Goliath, later sold to Sue Vaughan, with Merry at foot, for the breed record price of 3,600 gns. Gambol went on to be dam of Sue's outstanding bull Huntsham Lion, sire of Pat and John Stanley's, former stock bull and Royal Champion, Huntsham Cardinal. The following year Dulci went on to repeat the feat at the Royal Show losing out to Rosemary Robert's Grove House Baron for the top spot. At foot this time was Hawthorn who went on to win the Royal in 1987 as a heifer and again in 1993 and 1995. In 1988 we had our second 'double' at the Royal with Jeanna and Jasper, both by Goliath and both just yearlings A couple of leaner years followed, although in 1990 we had four seconds and a third at the Royal and the first three in the cow class at the Yorkshire. In 1992 Goldie by Goliath, won Supreme Champion at both the Royal and the Yorkshire and went on to realise 3,400 gns. with her two week old bull calf at foot, at the joint production sale with Peter and Cathie Player at Whatton. That calf was Fishwick Optimist and went on to become John Warner's successful show winner. In 1995 there were 6 Fishwick bred cows in the first 7 places at the Yorkshire Show. In 1996 and 1997 at the Royal and in 1996 and 1998 at the Yorkshire, Fishwick cows stood 1st, 2nd  and 3rd.

  Since Goliath we have used a sequence of bulls, some homebred and some bought in. They have all contributed to the herd and have ensured that we have kept a broad base of bloodlines. Goliath bred tremendous, powerful cows, whilst Bemborough Garrick added femininity, Shugborough Drake thickened and deepened, Glaven Alliance and Longrove Resolve added muscling, and Parc Grace Dieu Two Tone gave stretch and scale. Since then we have used Tetford Echo ( by Fishwick Olympic) and Charnwood United (by Fishwick Optimist, and now stock bull with Andrew and Jill Nelson at Hambleton)). Homebred bulls that have stamped their qualities on the herd include Fishwick Knight (by Goliath) and Fishwick Paragon (by Resolve), whilst we have some stunning maiden heifers by Fishwick Stormtrooper (by Two Tone and stock bull with Louis Massarella). Recent sires have included Southfield Commanche, Glaven Rogue and Linton David.

  At the Rare Breeds Show and Sale in 2004 at Melton Mowbray, jointly with Andrew Nelson [Hambleton] and Fraser McLung [Croc Mor], we purchased Bernard Llewellyn’s Carreg Cennen for a new breed record 8,500 gns. Cennen had been breed champion at the Royal Highland and Royal Welsh and had narrowly missed winning the £2000 Grand Slam Challenge being Reserve Male Champion at the Royal Show. His first calves are now on the ground and we watch them grow with eager anticipation! Donna [our 2005 Royal Show Champion] has a beautiful heifer calf - a real “Gem”- watch this space as they say!

Commercial Developments

  As the viability of suckled calf production improved in the late 1980' s we decided to retain the Longhorn cross Welsh Black heifers we were producing. Rather than put them to the Charolais for sale with calf at foot, in 1988 we determined to use a Simmental on them so that the resulting heifer calves could themselves be taken on for the calved heifer trade. Having bought a quality Simmental bull we felt it only natural to run a few pure females just as we had done with the Longhorns way back in 1977. By 2000 the Simmental herd had expanded to 80 cows running alongside 30 Longhorn cows and in the summer were run up in the Lammermuir hills at Longformacus whilst the Longhorns grazed the banks and islands of the Tweed at Fishwick. Since SFP we have scaled down and simplified the system to 40 breeding females of each.

  All the cattle plus some 350 breeding ewes, including a pedigree Charollais flock, were wintered down at Fishwick on fodder beet and straw, supplemented with distillers dark grains as a protein source. The ewe flock included 150 pedigree Charollais ewes for Shearling lRam production. About 60 “tups” per year were sold, mostly at Builth Wells in Wales. 100 Blackface ewes were run with the Charollais tup to produce prime lambs and female replacements for a 100 strong commercial ewe flock crossed with the Texel. The grazing season was extended by the use of kale and fodder beet tops in the autumn and by forage rye in the spring. Again, since SFP we have scaled back the sheep enterprise so that we now just run 80 pedigree Charollais ewes and a handful of commercial crosses.

  Surplus bull calves from both the Simmental and Longhorn herds are reared for sale as bull beef at 14 and 17 months respectively. The Simmentals mostly go via St. Boswells market to local butchers, who are switching from steers to bulls to access better quality. The Longhorns are processed locally, after hanging for 3 - 4 weeks, and sold direct to the public in freezer packs. The Longhorn flavour and texture is outstanding and surprisingly our biggest demand is for the mince and stewing steak - not forgetting burgers made from the brisket and sausages from the flanks and cheaper cuts that most butchers put into their economy mince. Steaks, sirloins and rib roasts also sell well but the modern housewife is not really interested in the cheaper joints such as topside, silverside and pot roasts. Fortunately our local pubs do a roaring trade in Fishwick Longhorn Steak and Ale Pies!

For the Future.

We are currently contemplating developing and running a commercial suckler herd based upon a three way cyclical cross of Simmental, Longhorn, Belgian Blue, in that order. We already calve our pedigree Simmental heifers at two years old to the Longhorn bull and so have a ready supply of base Longhorn x Simmental females. Time will tell but these three breeds have all the attributes needed in a modern commercial cross bred suckler cow. the male calves will have superior beefing qualities and the females can be sold as quality breeders at any stage of the cycle. We are looking for a top notch Red Belgian young bull to avoid too much colour variation in successive generations.